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The Ready-to-Drink (RTD) alcoholic beverage market is experiencing a boom. With over 300 brands and a projected market value of $21.1 billion by 2027 (CAGR 15%), this category has exploded with innovation.
Curion’s new study crowns a new entrant and up-and-comer as a top performing RTD vodka-based seltzer. Looking past many of the typical “reviews” from category fans or blog enthusiasts, we dug deep to find the data-backed RTD Vodka based seltzer wars WINNER with Curion’s Curion Score™.
The Rise and Drive of RTD Alcohol Seltzers
Today, 50% of all alcohol innovation dollars are spent on RTDs, and this innovation spend is money well spent. Pre-mixed hard seltzers have risen to become the fastest-growing categories in the overall spirits industry, and pre-mixed cocktails (vodka seltzers included) are set to carry the most growth in RTD’s on a global scale with an expected 26% volume of the total category by 2026.
“Ninety-four percent of consumers choose RTDs because they offer their preferred flavor choice, while 92 percent of consumers choose RTDs for convenience.”
With other 300 brands in this category, White Claw and Truly, when combined, take up the most space as top-selling hard seltzers by brand share (Statista, March 2024). However, the biggest impact comes from the “Others” category, taking up a whopping 40% of brand share!
Although well-established as a traditional vodka brand, the Absolut brand entered the canned cocktails market with “vodka sodas” and cocktails. Also, High Noon has quickly become a major player in the RTD vodka seltzer market with sales increasing by 261% in 2020 alone and earning a 2023 rating as a top contender in taste tests (Beverage Dynamics).
Product Leaders Don’t Always Align With Product Performance
It’s no secret that major players like White Claw and Truly dominate the total seltzer market. The premiumization of RTD alcohol products is a growing trend that is getting a wider reputation in this category among sophisticated consumers. Today, spirits-based RTDs, those made with vodka in particular, are estimated to sit at a 45% category volume share, driven by higher quality ingredients and more sophisticated flavor profiles.
Champions in this spirits-based sector like High Noon and NÜTRL have proven themselves to be superior products to many in the category, according to VinePair. However, what is considered “Superior” by sales volume does not always align with what are “best performing” in areas like taste and quality to consumers. This can be blamed on wider market appeal, brand recognition, impactful marketing campaigns, various price points, or even the dominance of established brands taking up more shelf space.
When product performance gets hidden in all the noise of dominating product leaders, action is needed to weed out the winners and give them the recognition they deserve. Curion’s 30 years of expertise in alcohol testing and category insights are helping to identify other emerging 5-star performers in the RTD Vodka Seltzers segment.
The Power Of The Curion Score™
Curion’s proprietary solution, the Curion Score™, leveraging a proprietary database of 1.5 billion data points, was able to produce a comprehensive assessment of each product’s performance within the context of the entire category.
"Due to the near constant innovation in Hard Seltzers, we’ve seen performance in this category improve over time. What was a good product a few years ago might be underperforming now due to this category evolution. The Curion Score™ goes beyond simple 'liking' by stripping away branding and focusing purely on the sensory experience, and measuring this up against the category itself.”
With product performance at the heart of the study, the sensory experience remains the key to a winning product for these brands: Absolut, High Noon, Nutrl, Cutwater, Sunny D, Smirnoff, and -196.
Which RTD Vodka Seltzer Reigns Supreme?
Curion’s study proves that while emerging brands may lack the marketing power or familiarity of industry giants, their product performance is shaking up the RTD vodka seltzer category.
In fact, the Curion Score™ analysis dove into the consumer attitude & usage insights and found that while ready-to-drink alcohol consumers are most familiar with and most likely to purchase Smirnoff, White Claw, and Truly brands, they were also least familiar and likely to purchase -196, which scored higher than the more familiar brands.
"Our RTD Vodka Seltzer study, powered by the Curion Score™, revealed clear 5-star winners and key attributes driving consumer preference. The Curion Score™ insights are vital for brands, helping refine products, sharpen marketing strategies, and ultimately drive repeat purchases for brand success.”
Taste, flavor variety, and alcohol content were seen as the most important factors when purchasing in this category. Also, the biggest influences for purchasing different flavors of RTD alcohol beverages are curiosity about flavors they haven’t tried before, and that they like the flavor in other beverages.
Not only did the Curion Score™ unveil two 5-star products, but it also revealed that several products were not able to stack up well against the category, despite having strong overall liking (OAL) scores.
Key Insights:
Familiarity falls short: Loyalty alone doesn’t ensure 5-star product performance. Newer competitors outshone established names, highlighting the growing importance of innovation and relevance in consumer decisions.
Curion Score™ differentiates the best: Curion Score™ assesses RTD Vodka Seltzers with a whole category view. Two products tied in overall liking, but Curion Score™ uncovered a 40% difference in overall category rank with category performance indicators.
New entrants to disrupt the market: -196, an RTD vodka cocktail hailing from Japan, earned a 5-star Curion Score™, outperforming classics and signaling a strong threat to established brands.
RTD rises among all alcohol: Top performing RTD vodka seltzers were not only 5-star products in the RTD category but among alcoholic beverages overall, indicating that consumers love these seltzers even compared to other beer, wine, & spirits.
The RTD Vodka Seltzer’s “Must Watch” Brand
Curion’s President, Keren Novack highlighted -196, pronounced “Minus One Nine Six,” by Suntory as a “must-watch” brand, using their proprietary Freeze Crush Infusion (FCI) technology to lock in bold flavor by freezing whole fruit at -196°C. Since its 2005 launch as “Strong Zero” in Japan, it’s become the second best-selling RTD, just behind White Claw.
The Curion Score™ Drivers analysis revealed that Suntory’s -196 brand product is an optimized product with no sensory detractors. So it is no wonder that combined with overall appeal, the lemon-flavored product emerged as a standout performer with 5 stars. Interestingly, another lemon-flavored competitor product failed to match this success with 2.5 stars, validating that -196 Lemon is the superior performing product. This contrast highlights that flavor alone isn’t enough to guarantee success.
These results, among others, crowned Suntory’s -196 Lemon Vodka Seltzer product as a stellar Curion Score™ 5-star contender at the top of its category, and within our study tying one other product for the top spot.
What's Next for RTD Vodka Seltzers?
With hard seltzers hitting its high peak around 2021, different classifications have been emerging and taking center stage.
In this booming but saturated market, brands are debuting their own pre-mixed products and making it even more difficult to stand out to consumers. Product innovation like unique flavors, premium ingredients, and functional benefits can help brands in their product developments in this category.
Health-minded consumers are gravitating towards better-for-you canned cocktail options with a “health halo” around lower calories, carbs, and sugars. The category is responding with natural flavors, alternative sugars, health and wellness implications on packaging, and botanical-forward options.
“Alcohol brands cannot make health claims, but spirit RTDs, such as Flying Embers’ probiotic-spiked hard kombuchas and Owl’s Brew’s tea-based seltzers, benefit from the “health halo” created by ingredients like vitamins, antioxidants, and probiotics.”
However, the key to standing out and truly taking the crown lies in sensory focus. Concentrating on improving the overall sensory experience of the product can lead to higher consumer ratings, as shown by Curion’s study using their Curion Score™. And as the Curion Score™ has proven, it’s important to look at the rising stars and fast track brands for a better view of the market, as product performance is key to repeat purchases.
Want to know who took the top spot, how the other brands scored, and how the Curion Score™ Drivers analysis plays into the study?
For the full results and behind-the-scenes of this study, follow the link.
- The 2024 Growth Brands: The RTD Leaders
- Hard Seltzer Market Size & Share Report, 2024-2030
- Hard Seltzer Industry: Unlikely to Fizzle Out
- Hard Seltzer – United States: Key Players
- Most Popular Hard Seltzers in America
- How White Claw Became the Only Hard Seltzer That Matters
- Suntory brings Japan’s top vodka seltzer to the US with a quirky campaign
- Suntory juices up US canned cocktail launch with Japanese-style ad
- RTD Trends in 2024
- RTDs to Hit $21.1bn in US
- Have We Reached Peak RTD? An Inside Look at the Latest Data
- Rising Spirits: The Growth of RTD Beverages
- New SunnyD Vodka Seltzer Draws Nostalgic Appeal for New Generation
- You Asked, We Delivered: SunnyD Vodka Seltzer is Here
- SunnyD Vodka Seltzer is Planning the Best Summer Ever
- Bold Flavors, Unlikely Duos: New Smirnoff Smash Vodka Soda Brings an Unexpected Pickleball Smashup to the Vegas Strip
- Suntory Launches -196°C Strong Zero in the United States
- What’s Next for the Hard Seltzer Market?
- US RTD Alcoholic Beverages Market Report 2023
- RTD alcohol category to hit $40bn by 2027
- Move Over Hard Seltzer: Spirit RTDs are on the Rise
- Why Demand for RTD Beverages is Skyrocketing: The Distilled Spirits Council Report
- Who is the RTD Consumer in the US Market?
- High Noon is Top-Selling Spirit in US
Curion specializes in delivering impactful insights to the world’s top CPG companies, helping them develop winning, repeatedly purchased products. Curion’s deep data-driven product insights, sensory expertise, and state-of-the-art consumer centers enable them to uncover responses to critical client objectives. With over five decades of experience in the product testing industry, Curion is dedicated to guiding clients with their proprietary XP Xperience Performance platform, connecting brands to consumers at every step.
An innovator in the industry, Curion recently developed a groundbreaking benchmarking product testing method, the Curion Score™, which has become a trusted and sought after tool within the industry. As one of the largest product and consumer insights companies in the U.S., Curion has built a reputation for excellence and trust among the world’s leading consumer brands. Curion’s commitment to innovation and expertise, coupled with a passion for delivering actionable insights, makes Curion a valuable partner for companies looking to develop and launch successful products.
